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The Health Benefits of RED WINE Health The Benefits RED WINE OPC, nature's most powerful anti-oxidant, is wonderfully abundant in the skins and seeds of grapes. Could this be the secret of the "French Paradox"? Part 2 VITAMIN C AND CHOLESTEROL he elimination of excessive cholesterol by the liver calls for a rather important enzymatic process, during which cholesterol is transformed into bile salts. This process of elimination occurs under the influence of vitamin C. Hence, the less vitamin C available, the slower the elimination of cholesterol. This effect of vitamin C on cholesterol catabolism was proven by E. Ginter in a test per- formed on two groups of guinea pigs. (See Figure 1.) One group received a vitamin C- deficient dict (0.5 mg per 24 hours); the second group received a diet that contained 10 mg per 24 hours. Per one day, that second group of guinea pigs transformed 23.6 mg of cholesterol into eliminable bile salts. The C-deficient group transformed only 16.6 mg of cholesterol—a decrease of 30%. The cholesterol level in the blood of the high-C group was 126 mg per 100 g; that of the low-C group was 218 mg per 100 g. LDL AND HDL A word of caution to those who think that the avenues to plates full of meat, eggs and cheese are now wide open as long as they take some vilamin C with it. Cholesterol comes in two forms: a high-density form (HDL) and a low-density form (LDL). The LDL cholesterol isn't very good because it behaves itself as a free radical, and it is the stuff that sticks to the vascular wall. We don't want to have too much LDL roaming around in our bloodstream. The right answer is not a lowering of cholesterol in the diet, since the LDL form will be created anyway. The correct answer is a diet full of antioxidants, such as that same vita- min C and OPC that neutralise the LDL and prevent it from harming our cardiovascular euctam system. VITAMIN C AND OPC: IMMORTAL TWINS For Prof. Jack Masquelier and his colleagues it had not come as a surprise that the elim- ination of cholesterol degradation was enhanced by OPC. “Once again," he explains, "we came across the phenomenon that OPC boosts the action of vitamin C." To prove that OPC fully satisfies the definition of vitamin C’s co-factor, Masquelier and his colleagues really put OPC to the test in 1976. Guinea pigs are just as dependent on the supply of vitamin C in foods as are humans. They therefore react to a scurvy diet, and the daily dosage can be determined for the nor- mal survival of guinea pigs. (See Figure 2.) Whenever the test animals were administered sub-optimum dosages of vitamin C, it appeared they couldn't cope as well as laboratory animals that received the optimum dosages. However, when the sub-optimum dosages were supplemented with OPC, the animals were perfectly capable of survival. In this way, Masquelier was able to monitor the survival of the guinea pigs that were given very small quantities of ascorbic acid but sufficient quantities of OPC. With this test it was conclusively demonstrated that OPC has a vitamin C sparing effect. This means that foods rich in OPC make more vitamin C available, and that all bodily functions in need of this vitamin—including important processes such as the elimination of cholesterol—can be more readily carried out. “If we were wise enough," says Masquelier, "to take an OPC tablet every time we take a vitamin C tablet, we would not need to consume as much ascorbic acid. Our test demon- strated that if you administer OPC and vitamin C you can decrease the dosage of vitamin C tenfold." © 1995 by Bert Schwitters The International Nutrition Co., Inc. Vreelandseweg 69 1393 PD Nigtevecht The Netherlands Phone +31 (0)2945 1690 Fax +31 (0)2945 1939 NEXUS ¢ 27 VITAMIN C AND CHOLESTEROL © 1995 by Bert Schwitters FEBRUARY-MARCH 1996